Revolutionary Road (2008)

April and Frank Wheeler (Kate Winslett and Leonardo DiCaprio) are a young couple with the perfect life. He travels to the city each morning to a comfortable, if inane, job. She is the pinnacle of domestication. Together with two children, The Wheelers are the seeming portrait of suburban bliss. Then one day, two people wake up amid the ordinary and realize they have settled. April has aspired to the theatre. Instead, her day is filled with the chores of a housewife. On Frank's 30th birthday, she reminds him of their dream. Paris. Once again, the couple feel alive. But as they are met with skepticism from friends, an unexpected pregnancy, and Frank's own career path, underlying tensions threaten to undo everything. For April and Frank, the real question is... do they care enough to pick up the pieces?

Revolutionary Road is a devastating beautiful film that examines the banality of suburbia. Sam Mendes directs this powerful cold reality and pegs the uncomprable DiCaprio and Winslett. Their flawless chemistry onscreen is provocative. Winslett gives a performance of a lifetime as April. She is both beautiful and hopeless. DiCaprio is subtly expressive and equally captivating.

Under Mendes, every element culminates to create a multi-faceted picture. Set in the mid-50s, the production of the era is top-notch. Mendes utilizes design, score, and subtle detail to speak volumes without saying a word. These essential elements serve to underscore our couple or punctuate an emotion. Every frame is visually arresting adding weight to our downward spiral.

As I see it, Revolutionary Road is a dangerous film not for its themes, but for its finality behind the white picket fence. This film is not life-affirming; rather, Mendes offers a masterful soul-crushing drama of societal mediocrity for those brave enough to face the reflection.